


The Other Shoe

by glymr



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Fear, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Past Abuse, Possibly Pre-Slash, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 17:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16123301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glymr/pseuds/glymr
Summary: A fill for the DBH Kinkmeme.Original prompt:"After the beatdown in the Archive room, Gavin is legit afraid of Connor when he comes back. Thanks to a shitty past, he fully expects Connor to beat the shit out of him to punish him for how he treated him before, and now he’s deviant, there are no limits, and he can do so much more damage ... Finally, they are alone one day and Gavin just begs him to get it over with. Connor is horrified."





	The Other Shoe

The waiting was the worst.

Gavin knew he was fucked. He'd known from the second Fowler had announced that Connor would be coming back.

The thing was, Gavin was a bully. He had to be. There were two kinds of people in the world: bullies and victims. As long as you were beating down other people, they weren't beating you down. If you were mean and scary enough, sometimes you could avoid the fight altogether. But when you couldn't avoid it, you'd better be able to win it. If you didn't, God help you. Sure as fuck no one else would.

Connor was coming back, and Gavin had lost. Connor had kicked his ass and left Gavin curled up on the floor like the miserable, pathetic piece of shit he was.

He'd hated Connor from the start. The best thing about androids was that they would never attack you, never fight back. They were _built_ to be victims. Gavin had never treated them as anything else.

But Connor had never acted quite right. From the start he wouldn't do what Gavin told him to. And then Connor had turned on him. Connor had _fought back_.

Connor had _won_.

A shudder ran through Gavin as he glanced across the bullpen and watched the RK800 scan through the latest casefile. As though aware of him, Connor lifted his head and met Gavin's eyes from across the room, the threat clear in his gaze. Everyone else saw Connor as a sweet, friendly guy. They had _no idea_ how brutal he could be. Gavin looked away, feeling the sweat gathering on the back of his neck.

Androids were all 'deviants' now, no longer bound by their programming. They didn't have to be victims anymore. That meant that the next time Connor kicked his ass, it would be personal. It would be punishment for every insult, every time he'd called Connor a 'plastic prick' or worse. It would be vicious.

At first he'd tried to avoid Connor. But the longer things went on, the worse it was. Connor was always there, watching him. In the breakroom "getting a coffee" for Hank. Asking Gavin questions about a cold case that supposedly had relevance to one they were working on. Always being professional around others. Biding his time.

Eventually, Gavin had gone back to being rude, hoping to trigger the confrontation and get it over with. It was stupid, he knew that, it would only make everything worse in the end. But he couldn't live like this anymore, knowing what was coming and just...waiting for it.

But _still_ Connor didn't do anything about it. He continued to be polite, sometimes meeting Gavin's insults with sarcasm, sometimes ignoring them, but never, ever touching him.

If insulting Connor and treating him like shit was stupid, following him into the evidence lockup was insane. But Gavin just couldn't take it anymore, living on the knife's edge, waking up every morning and wondering if today would be the day. So when he saw Connor heading toward the evidence lockup, he followed him in. There was something appropriate about ending it here, Gavin thought. He knew he was gonna lose again. Connor was _strong_ and he was a way better fighter than Gavin. But at least it would be over.

For now, anyway.

"Detective Reed," said Connor. His voice was flat and even. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah," said Gavin. "You can stop fucking drawing this out."

Connor stared at him. His LED flickered yellow. "Drawing what out?"

"This!" Gavin gestured between them and braced himself. "Just - just get it over with, okay?"

The android's brows drew together. "Get what over with?"

Gavin gritted his teeth. Connor was going to make him say it. It was all part of the punishment, he guessed. "Stop fucking around," he snarled. "I'm not afraid of you! I know you're gonna beat the shit out of me, so just do it already!"

The LED flashed red for a second, then back to a steady yellow. "You want me to hit you again?"

"Of course I don't want you to, but I know you're _gonna_ , so stop pretending you're not!" Gavin seized the lapels of Connor's jacket. "C'mon you fucker, just do it already!"

Conno's LED flashed red again. He was staring at Gavin as blankly as though he'd never woken up. "I don't understand. Is this - is this some sort of sexual thing-?" Connor said.

He recoiled, letting go of Connor's jacket and stumbling back into the wall. It was always weird to feel himself going pale, the blood leaving his face so fast that he felt dizzy and sick. He hadn't even _thought_ \- hadn't even _considered_ that angle - _fuck fuck fuck_ \- androids could do _that_ now, too? He managed to croak out, "No, _please_ -" Why was he even begging? All it ever did was make things worse.

"Gavin!" The android's strong hands were on his shoulders, and Gavin flinched. He was gonna throw up, and then Connor would hurt him _more_ and-

"I'm not going to hurt you," Connor's voice cut through his terror.

A hysterical laugh bubbled up. " _Sure_ you're not."

"Detective Reed - _Gavin_ ," said Connor, "Look at me."

Perversely, he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the blow, the yell - _Look at me, damn you!_ But it didn't come. It didn't come. Connor was just waiting for him to open his eyes, and _then_ he would-

He opened his eyes.

Connor was right in front of him, peering into Gavin's face. He wasn't frowning anymore. "Detective Reed, we're both police officers. We're on the same team."

Gavin blinked. "What?"

"We're...brothers in arms," said Connor. "I'm not going to attack you. And I'm not going to let anyone else do so, either."

Gavin's world turned upside down.

He'd forgotten. There was a third category.

Bullies.

Victims.

And brothers.

Brothers have your back. He'd always had Eli's back, until Eli hadn't needed him anymore. No one had ever had Gavin's back, though.

"Brothers…?" he choked out.

Connor searched his face. The light at his temple flickered yellow yellow yellow. "You're a fellow officer," he said simply. "I'll protect you."

Relief poured through him, making him lightheaded in a different way.

He wasn't going to get beaten up. Not only that, but Connor was on _his_ side. The tough, strong, incredibly dangerous android was going to protect _him_.

Another hysterical laugh bubbled out of him. "I was an asshole," he said. His eyes were stinging humiliatingly. He squeezed them shut as hard as he could. "I was a total dick to you. I tried to kill you! Don't you want payback?"

"No," said Connor. "You attacked me and I defended myself. We're even for that. For everything else, it was just words. If you want to make it right, you can do that with words, too. If you apologize, we can call it square. Clean slate."

Gavin forced his eyes open. Connor was looking at him, his expression calm and serious. "You mean it?"

"Yes," said Connor. "If it will mean anything coming from an android, I swear it."

Nodding, Gavin said, "Sorry. I...I'm sorry."

The android's lips turned up in a soft smile that lit up his whole face. "Apology accepted," he said. He held out one hand.

Gavin looked down at it and then up into Connor's face. He took the proffered hand and shook it. It was warm and smooth. It felt like skin.  Acting on a sudden impulse, he pulled Connor into a hug, slapping his back a little. Connor startled but didn't lash out. "Thanks, bro," mumbled Gavin against his jacket.

"You're welcome," said Connor. He tightened his arms a little, shifting his weight until the hug was just right. 

It felt good.  It felt like everything Gavin needed and nothing he could ever ask for.  It felt like everything he wanted and nothing he deserved.

He'd never felt so safe.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm at [tumblr](http://glymr.tumblr.com/) off and on. Feel free to ping me there and say hello. :)


End file.
